Following the Great Oil Wars, society as we know it reverts to a
barbarous state and gasoline becomes a precious rare commodity. The
ruthless Colonel Straker (well played with hard and cruel resolve by
James Wainwright) rides around the countryside in his formidable
heavily armored battletruck with his vicious gang of marauders. When
Straker and his men terrorize the peaceful commune of Clearwater for
food and supplies, mysterious laconic loner motorcyclist Hunter (a
solid and likable performance by Michael Beck) comes to the commune's
rescue.

Director Harley Cokeliss, who also co-wrote the simple, but
effective script with Irving Austin and John Beech, relates the
engrossing story at a steady pace, presents a plausibly harsh and
lawless futuristic society in which the fittest and most brutal reign
supreme over everyone else, stages the exciting action scenes with real
skill and aplomb, draws the characters with a bit more depth than you
would expect (sure, the protagonists are quite engaging and the
villains are truly hateful, but neither are depicted as one-note
cardboard cut-outs), and maintains a generally serious tone throughout
along with a few inspired touches of sharp sarcastic humor.

This film
further benefits from sound acting from an able cast: the pretty Annie
McEnroe makes for a very spirited and appealing heroine as Straker's
spunky wayward daughter Corlie, Bruno Lawrence provides hilarious comic
relief as Straker's grubby, dim-witted lackey Willie, a pre-"Cheers"
John Ratzenberger has a nice sizable role as amiable commune dweller
Rusty, and Randy Powell is appropriately slimy as the traitorous and
treacherous Judd. The titular battletruck rates as an impressively
powerful and imposing monolithic vehicular monstrosity. Cinematographer
Chris Menges offers plenty of striking shots of the truck and makes
good use of the desolate rural New Zealand locations. Kevin Peek's
robust and rousing score hits the groovy rockin' spot. A fun and
worthwhile flick.

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